William e



`(No Model.)

W. E. CRAM 8v 11.11. L. GLEGG.

ELECTRIC GAS LIGHTING APPARATUS.

110.599,121. Patented Feb. 15,1898.

Jaya? UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

'WILLIAM E. CRAM AND JAMES II. L. CLEGG, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS; SAID CLEGG ASSIGNOR TO SAID CRAM.

ELECTRIC GAS-LIGHTING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part 0f Letters Patent N0. 599,121, dated February 15, 1898.

Application filed April 30, 1897- Serial No. 634,583. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, t may concern;

Be it known that we, WILLIAM F.. CRAM and JAMEs H. L. Ounce, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Gas-Lighting Apparatus, of which the following' is a specification.

This invention relates to electric gas-lighting apparatus, and has for its object to provide an appliance by means of which the gas will be automatically lighted by the act of turning on a gas-cock, and in case the flame should be extinguished while the gas is {iowing the same will be automatically relighted.

The invention consists in the improvements which we will now proceed to describe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure l represents a side elevation of a gas-bracket constructed in accordance with our invention. Fig. 2 represents a top plan view thereof. Fig. 3 represents a side elevation of the burner, the electromagnet-casing being shown in section. Fig. 4- represents a top plan view of the burner. Figs. 5 and G represent sections on the line 5 5 of Fig. l, showing the devices for making and breaking the electric circuit by means of the key. Fig. 7 represents a modiiied form of the circuit-breaker or switch.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.

Referring to the drawings, a designates the gas-burner, which is provided with the usual form of tip ce', and the lower part of which is composed of malleable iron, which-constitutes a core for an electromagnet h. An armature c is let into recesses in a flange l1' at the upper end of the magnet and a pole-piece b2 at the lower end thereof, the said armature being pivoted at c to the fiange h and being provided with a light spring c2, by means of which its lower end is normally kept at a slight distance away from the inner end of the recess in the pole-piece h2. A cylindrical casing cl incloses the magnet. The armature c is prolonged to form an arm above the casing, its end being arranged in proximity to the slit in the gas-tip a' and being preferably tipped with a platinum contact-point c3..

e designates an expansion-strip or thermostat,'composed preferably of two metals, such as iron and copper, which have different coefficients of expansion and affixed to or formed on a collar e', which surrounds and is insulated from the burner a. The said eX- pansion-strip is connected with one of the wires b3 from the electromagnet, the other wire h4 being carried back along the bracket and connected with a binding-postf- To the shank of said binding-post is affixed a iiexi ble contact-strip f', which is adapted to be moved into or out of contact with the projecting shank of a binding-post g, the two binding-posts being insulated from surrounding metal and mounted in a base 7i., which is at tached to the gas-bracket. The gas-cockfi is provided on its lower portion with a key t" and on its upper end with a chamfered or cam-shaped head t2. The contact-strip f is shod on its under side with a piece of insulating materialfwhich rests against the camface of the head t2, and said strip is held by its tension out of contact with the post g when the key c" is in a crosswise position and the gas turned olf, Figs. l, 2, and 5. When the gas is turned on by moving the key t" to the po sition shown in Fig. G, the strip f is brought into contact with the post g and the electric circuit is completed at this point.

The expansion-strip e, which is preferably provided with a platinum contactspoint, is normally in contact with the platinum point c3 at the upper end of the armature c and is adapted to stay in this position as long as it remains cold; but when heated, as bythe gaslame, said strip uncurls slightly and its end moves out of contact with the tip c3.

As is usual in electric gas-lighting devices `the gas-bracket itself acts as one of the electrical conductors and a battery and sparkcoil are placed in the circuit, which latter :may readily be traced in the drawings through the binding-post g, the contact-strip f', the binding-post f, the wire h4, the clectromagnet o, the expansion-strip e, the armature c, and the gas-bracket.

It will now be seen that when the key c is moved to the position shown in Fig. G to admit gas to the burner the circuit will be com pleted and the magnet h energized. The

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lower end of the armature c is then attracted and is immediately released by the breaking of the circuit between the end of the expansion-strip e and the contact-point c3, a spark being formed at this place. A rapid vibration of the armature ensues, and a succession of sparks is formed which ignites the lstream of gas issuing from the tip of the burner. The heat of the gas-iiame then immediately causes the expansion-strip e to separate from the end of the armature, as shown in Figs. 3 and et, thereby breaking the electric circuit. lf, at any time, the gas-llame should be extinguished while the cock 0l is in its open position and the switch j" g closed,

as shown in Fig. 6, the said expansion-strip will return in a few seconds to its normal position of contact with the point c3, sparking will ensue, and the gas will be thereby automatically relighted.

In Fig. 7 we have represented a top plan view of a slightly-modified form of switch, whose operation will readily be understood without explanation.

From the above description it will be seen that we have provided a simple, easily-constructed, and easily-applied device for automatically lighting gas and for preventing accidents caused by inadvertently blowing out the flame.

We do not confine ourselves to the exact construction of any of the parts or features of the above-described device, since it is obvious that our invention is capable of Various forms of embodiment not differing essentially from that set forth.

We claim- 1. In a device of the character specied, the combination with a gas burner and cock, of a switch operated by the movement of said cock for making and breaking an electric circuit, an electromagnet arranged in said circuit and having a vibratile armature provided with a contact member arranged in proximity to the orifice of the gas-burner, and a thermostat arranged in said circuit and adapted to coact with the vibratile member in causing a series of gas-igniting sparks, and to be expanded by the heat of the gasflame, so as to separate the sparking-points to break the electric circuit at the point of sparking, and to keep them separated during the existence of a flame.

2. A device of the character specified, comprising a gas-burner, a cock for governing the flow of gas thereto, means operated by the movement of said cock for making and breaking an electric circuit, a pivoted vibratile member actuated by a magnet and an expansion-strip attached to the burner below the end of the same and curved around said burner so as to bring its free end into proximity with the vibratile member and with the opening in the burner, the said vibratile member and expansion-strip cooperating to produce igniting-sparks, and the said expansion-strip being adapted to be acted on by a flame to separate the sparking-points to break the electric circuit at the point of sparking.

3. A device of the character specified, comprising a gas-burner, a cock for governing the flow of gas thereto, means operated by the movement of said cock for making and breaking an electric circuit, a thermostat included in said circuit, an electromagnet consisting of a core forming a partof the gasconduit and a helix surrounding said core, the said magnet having a ilange at its upper end and a pole-piece at its lower end, and an armature pivoted in arecess in the flange and having its lower end let into a recess in the pole-piece, all arranged to operate substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 28th day of April, A. D. 1897.

' WILLIAM E. CRAM.

JAMES H. L. CLEGG. Witnesses:

A. D. HARRISON, P. W. PEZZETTI. 

